You’ve heard the cute proverbs like “bloom where you’re planted”, and “you reap what you sow.” My favorite one is on a sign at St. James Plantation, near Southport, NC.  It says,”Don’t be afraid of change, without change a seed would never be a flower, but remain a seed in the ground.”

With a lot of moving due to job transfers, I tried to bloom where I was planted. I believe God honors our efforts to do good wherever he puts us. When we got the call out of the blue to take a job in Hendersonville, where Tony and I met and started our family, I knew it was from the Lord. Tony and I had just discussed a few months earlier if we thought we would ever move back home and he said let’s pray together that if it is God’s will then He will make it so clear that it cannot be denied. So you can’t get much clearer than getting a job you didn’t apply for or even know existed.  So we sold our business and closed the Georgia chapter of our life. It was bittersweet because I love Georgia very much.

When I saw this quote at St. James Plantation it resonated with me in a special way. As I researched the Oak Island area and experienced the lovely people here in Brunswick County, I kept having thoughts about this quote.

I feel like I’ve never been afraid of change and God has planted us in a lot of wonderful places.  Lastly, being planted back in Hendersonville, we have been blooming there.  I still wanted to take this trip to the coast to see if we would like to live here. The time here has helped me to realize I’ve been planted, I’ve grown, budded, blossomed, and now is the time to just enjoy the many blossoms bestowed to us.  We are so content with our friends, church, home, and neighborhood. I’m not sure it is time to change dirt at this point of my life.

A book I’ve been reading by Kelly Minter called No Other Gods  hit home also to confirm my feelings.  It’s amazing how God has everything we need at the precise time we need it.  As I do my Bible study each day, I feel as if God is telling me to wait.  Sarah didn’t wait on God.  After God promised her a son,  she helped things along by giving her maid servant to Abraham to have Ishmael instead of waiting on God.  What a mess she made!  I hear God saying wait, so I wait. If God gives me Oak Island one day, it will be in his perfect timing and He will make it clear as He did when He planted us in Hendersonville.

I’m grateful for this wonderful experience and I will definitely be back to visit beautiful Oak Island, NC.